This petite (just 5#) little girl will be a year old in Dec. 2008. She was fostered by a very small rescue group in International Falls that had only 3 foster homes and the one she was in was moving away.
Norma needed some additional help when she came to Pet Haven. She had very bad gum disease which wasn't recognized by the vet where she was seen. Norma soon had an appointment with a vet who specializes in dentistry. Norma had been eating all her life with pain. She had had 10 teeth just fall out, others were hanging by a thread.
Her foster and the vet talked the dentist into removing all her teeth in one trip. Usually this is done in two visits with time to heal in between but we promised to keep her eating through a full mouth extraction and recovery.
So Norma went for her appointment and came home (having had blocks just as you do to have a tooth worked on or pulled) and ate 1/2 can of cat food that evening. She has had oral pain meds for 4 days and is eating up a storm. Can you imagine having the remainder of your teeth pulled and finding that even though teeth and roots had been taken out and sutures put in that your mouth would feel SO MUCH better than you'd be able to eat and eat the day after surgery? Frankly - I can't, but Norma knows what it is all about.
Within a few weeks she'll be allowed to have dry kibble also and will eat it up quickly too - and will never again have to worry about infection and pain in her mouth.
And what is Norma like? She's quite a smoocher. This little girl is a bundle of love so you have to want a cat who will always like to be with you. She also has a cute little trick of letting her tongue hang out of the left side of her mouth some of the time! After awhile she remembers it and in it goes but comes peeking out every now and then! She's playful and attentive and loves to help if you like to crochet. Here she's making sure the yarn is holding just the right tension as catnip strawberries are crocheted. Good girl, Norma!
